Monday 16 July 2012 04.04 EDT
First published on Monday 16 July 2012 04.04 EDT

The number of male trainee primary schoolteachers in England has increased by more than 50% in the last four years, according to figures.

Data from the Teaching Agency (TA), which is responsible for initial teacher training, showed the number of men undertaking a career in primary teaching has grown at five times the rate of women.

The agency said there were 3,743 trainee male primary teachers in 2011/12, compared with 2,476 in 2008/09.

Lin Hinnigan, the interim chief executive of the TA, said: "Primary teaching is increasingly a career for the most able graduates. It offers the opportunity to earn a good salary and progress quickly."

According to the TA, teachers are twice as likely to be in management positions after three and a half years than graduates in comparable professions.

The organisation is offering male graduates the chance to contact male teachers to find out more about the role.

Hinnigan added: "Our aim in joining forces with talented male teachers from primary schools across England is to show the reality of life in a classroom and why there's never been a better time to join the profession."

Darren McCann, who was promoted to deputy head of a primary school in Astley, Greater Manchester, after teaching for seven years, said: "I'd always done well at school and initially thought I'd want to be a doctor or a lawyer. This all changed after I visited a school for work experience. A career in teaching shot to the top of my list.

"It was my ambition that directed me to primary teaching specifically – there are great opportunities for progression – and I've reaped the benefits of that decision."